1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the structure and control of reconfigurable chemical reaction environments, and as such is applicable to micro-scale hybrid-process “chips,” “lab-on-a-chip,” multiple “lab-chip” systems, field-scale chemical instrumentation, laboratory-scale instruments and devices, chemical production plants, controlled catalytically-activated systems, enzyme networks, and various types of exogenously-activated (optical, electric field, thermal) chemical reaction systems.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Processes, procedures, and equipment for commercial chemical production and experimental laboratory activities have a rich history and one of extensive continued development. In these, standard components (tanks, reaction chambers, flow reactors, dryers, piping, stirrers, cracking towers, and so forth in chemical plants; flasks, condensers, tubing, drying tubes, stirrers, bubbles, heating mantles and so forth in chemical laboratories) are configured in various ways to create environments for controlled chemical processes. In some applications, these standardized components are configured into a fixed arrangement that, subject to repairs, remains intact for the duration of the lifetime of the standardized component. In other applications, the standardized components may be assembled into first one configuration, then dismantled, cleaned, assembled into a second configuration, and so forth, thus hosting a variety of chemical reaction environments over the standardized component lifetimes. In a few selected applications, one or more standardized components may be assembled in mildly flexible arrangements, for example, a reaction vessel port may be connected by a “T-valve” to two alternative tanks, etc. However, in chemical plant and laboratory environments, such minor reconfiguration capabilities are rare, localized, and non-systemic.
In more recent times, automated specialized field and laboratory instruments have emerged for performing specialized tasks such as gas spectroscopy, electrophoresis, chromatography, and specialized segments of analytical chemistry. Such systems, especially more contemporary ones, often involve computer control of valves, pumps, heating elements, electric-field-inducing electrodes, etc. Although reconfiguration capabilities may be present in such systems, the range of possible configurations is again relatively limited and the overall resulting systems are suitable only for specific specialized tasks.
In recent years, the notion of “lab-on-a-chip” technology has emerged and shown considerable promise. Incorporating photolithography techniques perfected in semiconductor fabrication, ink jet technology, micro-fluidic and capillary hydrodynamics, micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technologies, nano-scale processes, and other technologies and techniques, it is envisioned that miniature “instruments” or “laboratories” on the scale of microprocessor chips can be cost-effectively manufactured. In the currently accepted view, each such miniature laboratory would have a specific design exclusively dedicated to highly specified tasks, such as those relating to sample evaluation, matrix-array DNA sequencing, etc.
Each of the aforementioned environments, although involving various degrees of automation, are either dedicated to specific configurations and applications, or are flexibly reconfigurable only by extensive human intervention and handling. In the most flexible of these environments—i.e., the experimental chemical laboratory—individual glassware elements and associated devices are assembled in a configuration, used in that configuration, retrieved after the configuration is dismantled, cleaned, stored in inventory, retrieved from inventory, assembled into another configuration, etc.